Roy is Associate Counsel at BIO and the main contributor for Patently Biotech. He is a lawyer by training, with a background in international and national politics. He grew up in the developing world and believes that innovation can and does solve many of the world’s problems. Because of this, his work focuses on creating a worldwide policy environment that fosters innovation in the biotechnology sector to prevent and cure diseases such as HIV, to increase crop yields to feed more people, and to decrease the harmful effects of industry on the environment. Roy spends his free time keeping up with his three kids, a wife that knows everything (no joke), and serving in his church and broader community. Learn more about Roy from his Linkedin Profile.

Latest Posts

BIO filed an amicus brief in the Prometheus v. Mayo Clinic case. In this case the Supreme Court is being asked to decide whether diagnostic and personalized medicine claims that depend on a correlation of observed phenomena should be excluded from the patent system at the outset, as patent-ineligible abstract ideas or “laws of nature.” BIO’s brief argues that these judicially-created exclusions from patent-eligibility have traditionally been used only under narrow circumstances, and that their Read More >

A great article in the Economist titled European science stemmed addresses the recent and controversial decision by the European Court of Justice regarding the patentability of certain inventions derived from embryonic stem cells. ANY country, you might think, would relish being able to call itself the world’s leader in scientific research. America and Europe, however, seem to be in a bizarre parallel contest: which can make its scientists’ lives more difficult by imposing the most muddled Read More >

The Australian Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee recommended against the Patent Amendment (Human Genes and Biological Materials) which would have banned DNA patents in Australia. The push by members of the Australian Senate seemed to mirror efforts in the United States surrounding the Myriad case. The Committee found that: “While previous inquiries and public discussions have focused on the patenting of human genes, the Bill goes further and proposes a specific exclusion for biological materials which Read More >

In the midst of turbulent economic times, and at a moment when the U.S. is looking to encourage technology job creation in the coming decade, an increasing number of public and private sector initiatives have been proposed to spur job creation. While the U.S. leads in the area of biotechnology, there is no guarantee that this competitive edge will continue. Moreover, although the U.S. is more prolific in life science discoveries than any other single country in the Read More >

Senators Hatch and Kerry, along with 35 other Senators, sent a letter to Ambassador Kirk asking for 12 years of regulatory data protection consistent with U.S. law in the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement. We are united in urging you to propose a strong minimum term of regulatory data protection for biologics consistent with U.S. law. As you are aware, U.S. law provides for a 12-year term of regulatory data protection for biologics and we believe that should serve Read More >